Would you consider Ben Sheets?

There seems to be little movement on the Sabathia front and, quite frankly, I am sick of talking about the guy. I have defended and defended and defended the big man's right to take as much time as he wants in making a decision, but the report today that he told Ned Colletti, the GM for the Dodgers, that he wanted "to be a Dodger" just really ticks me off to no end. If you just want to live on the West Coast, fine.......go for it. But be upfront about it for God sake. Be a man. Make a decision. What the freak is the hold up. Dear GOD, get a move on, will you?

Anyway, the Yanks appear to be ready to move on with their offseason and wait for Sabathia in the meantime. There were two interesting reports out there today, in my opinion. The first was that the Yanks were potentially ready to offer AJ Burnett a four-year deal worth on excess of $64 million. The other tid bit was the fact that the Yankees met with Ben Sheets.

Now, it has been somewhat of a foregone conclusion by many that the Yanks would have no interest in Ben Sheets. His injury problems over the last few years have raised too many red flags, many argue, and the Yanks have been linked to everyone from Burnett to Derek Lowe to Oliver Perez, but not Sheets.

Perhaps that is changing.

So, the question is, would you consider Sheets?

Before you answer, make sure you take a long hard look at the resume the righty would be bringing along with him to the Bronx. Sheets is 30, has pitched 200 or more innings three times, pitched in 30 or more games four times, and, until last year, had not pitched more than 156 innings since 2004. However, Sheets pitched 198 innings this year, had 5 shutouts, 3 complete games, walked only 47 batters while striking out 158. He had a 3.09 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP. Those are pretty solid numbers, especially in Milwaukee, a good hitters ballpark. When you take in to account that Burnett, who the Yanks seem all but willing to make an offer to, has also only surpassed 200 innings three times, 30 games twice, and, before this year, had only pitched over 200 innings once since 2003, can you legitimately make the arguement that he is somehow a much better option than Sheets? Burnett is even a year older.

None of us know how Sheets would perform in the big spot because, unfortunately, until the big lefty went to Milwaukee this year, the Brewers were the franchise where playoff dreams went to die. But, by all accounts, Sheets is a bulldog who HATES to lose, another potential plus that Burnett does not necessarily possess.

The big fish is still CC Sabathia, who is taking his sweet time in making up his mind, but signing Sheets to a short-term contract seems logical at this point, doesn't it?